Singing is the Only Thing That Matters
by Moe Riverside
Summary: This starts in NBK and will continue on in an AUish fashion. Kurt decides Puck is right; if his ideas aren't good enough for them, then his time really could be spent better by spying on the "Garblers." Cue Kurt's teenage Dream.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **I couldn't help but join the Facebook Bandwagon, and this is what sprung from it! All credit for the facebook formatting goes where it is due (not sure who started it, actually). This follows Never Been Kissed, and will continue, it will follow the episodes a little- but it will be AU mostly. Because I love Klaine :)

I also apologize for any errors and take responsibility for them, as they are my own. Also- I apologize that the page breaks are not consistent. I could not for the life of me figure out how to make them stay.

**I do not own glee. At all. Not even a little bit.**

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Kurt Hummel's life had never been anything he would describe as normal or even vaguely sane. Fashionable? Yes. Was there a lot of unnecessary drama? Lots and ots of unnecessary drama. Full of unwanted verbal abuse from jerks who couldn't spell their own names? Undoubtedly. But sane and normal, not a chance- no matter how hard he tried. So when Puck had brazenly blown off his ideas by shutting him down once again and told him he could make better use of his time by spying on the "Garblers," Kurt thought: What the hell? It wasn't like he had anything to lose after all. Ignoring the looks from his surprised Glee-mates he strode from the room. There was only so much one could take in one day.

And so Kurt had gone to Dalton Academy, an all boys school about 45 minutes South of Lima, in Westerville. Of course, he had first done some rather extensive research so he could be prepared (although he would later find out, research did NOT substitute for real knowledge), and found himself rather impressed with the school as a whole. It was made up of a main school building, and a separate building for students who boarded at the school, which if the website was correct was about 75% of them. The school was at a very high academic level, exceeding state standards and it had never once come close to failing to meet AYP (Which Kurt knew from personal experience, was not something McKinley could boast). There were all sorts of extra-curriculars, each of them as impressive and successful as the last. However the Warblers appeared to be the pride and joy of the school, and so Kurt was more than a little nervous about sneaking in and observing them, for fear of the fact that he was pretty sure without even seeing them sing that they had something to worry about for Sectionals.

As he entered the large limestone building that was Dalton Academy, Kurt was in awe. The building was large and ridiculously well cared for; there was nothing so grand or awe-inspiring at McKinley High School that was for sure. He must have arrived sometime during a free period or break between classes because there was a mass of students milling around. A majority of them were headed in one direction. He drew in on himself trying to appear as small as possible, clutching his bag to his side as he scanned the area looking for some sign of the Warblers. He was really glad at that he'd decided to skip the rest of the day, because he had absolutely no idea where or when the Warbler's practiced; and from the looks the place, he could walk around for hours and still be lost.

Working up the courage to ask for directions, he reached out and grabbed for the first person he could. "Excuse me," he asked timidly, "Can you tell me what's going on?"

Then he got his first real look at the boy he'd stopped, and he felt his heart leap into his throat. The boy was drop dead gorgeous, and Kurt instantly felt himself melt into a pile of mush. When the boy reached out and grasped his hand, he chocked as his heart sparked back to life and he was dragged to a room across the walkway while the boy filled him in over what was going on; an impromptu concert. Apparently, the show choir at Dalton was popular- a concept that was very new to Kurt.

As they entered the room, Kurt jerked to a halt in surprise. "Oh, I stick out like a sore thumb," he moaned to himself.

The boy in front of him smirked, "Well then next time, don't forget your jacket New Kid."

The way he looked at Kurt, and the way he stressed the last two words made him realize he was completely screwed. He_ knew_.

"Now if you'll excuse me," he continued, backing away from Kurt. And then he began to sing.

Cue Kurt's Teenage Dream. Oh wow. New Directions was in sooo much trouble if they didn't pull themselves together.

By the time the song was finished, and he had started to pull himself back together, the boy was approaching him again. Forget New Directions, Kurt was in trouble.

"It's very civilized of you to buy me coffee before you beat me up," Kurt said softly, trying to keep his face impassive and void of the slight terror he felt.

Those were the words he'd said to the three boys, Blaine, Wes and David, and he'd been incredibly surprised to learn that they weren't even vaguely interested in hurting him, or reporting his spying. They even told him that his poor spying skills were endearing. And of course Kurt couldn't just laugh it off and get the hell out of there, no matter how much his head was screaming at him to do so, he had to ask the big question- "Are you all gay?" He had been pretty shocked to find out that there was such a thing as a "zero tolerance," policy on bullying. And even as he found out that Blaine was the only one who was gay (his heart fluttered happily, and he could feel a new crush coming on) out of the three, there was no discomfort or change in the behavior of Wes and David and Kurt found himself realizing for the first time ever that maybe there were people in the world that accepted things and people who were different from the norms defined by society.

To his utter embarrassment, he found himself spilling his guts to Blaine; he was completely mortified at the tears that coursed down his cheeks without permission. Despite his feeling of comfort and what could only be described as a huge crush on Blaine, he was a complete stranger, and it was shocking to Kurt that he was blurting out all of his problems to this person who had no reason to care about Kurt's problems. He was more than a little bit surprised when Blaine had revealed that he himself had been bullied at his old school.

"It, grrr, it really pissed me off," he revealed with an annoyed look as he remembered his past torment, "I even complained about it to the faculty, and…they were sympathetic and all, but you could just tell that nobody **really** cared. It was like hey, if you're gay, then your life's just going to be miserable. Sorry. Nothing we can do about it."

Kurt looked down and away, feeling the burn of the tears and shame easing slightly.

"So I left. I came here. Simple as that," Blaine paused and then took a deep breath and continued on. "So you have two options."

Kurt looked up in surprise; no one had ever bothered to tell him what they thought he should do about the situation, other than just sticking it out or avoiding it, or changing who he was.

"I mean, I'd love to tell you to just come and enroll here, but tuition at Dalton is kind of steep, and I know that's not an option for everybody. Or- you can refuse to be the victim. Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt, and you have a chance right now to teach them."

This concept was surprisingly new to him. He had never once thought that there was a way to educate the Neanderthals at his school. Softly, he gazed at the boy across from him and asked "How?"

"Confront them. Call them out."

Kurt felt the sinking disappointment in his gut, and tried to keep it off his face. Confront Karofsky? Yeah right. The guy outweighed Kurt by at least 50 pounds, probably much much more. Calling Karofsky and the jocks out? They would just find a way to turn it around back on Kurt and make him that much more miserable. He wished he had the bravery required for what Blaine was advising.

"I ran away," Blaine's voice drew his attention again. "Kurt. I didn't stand up to them. I let bullies chase me away, and it is something that I really, really regret."

After they finished their lattes Kurt said goodbye to Blaine, turning to leave. "Wait!" he heard behind him. He turned slowly back to the boy in the Dalton uniform, and gave him a questioning look.

"Here," Blaine said, thrusting a piece of paper into his hand. "This is my cell number, email, twitter, facebook- everything you could possibly need to contact me. Anytime. Day or night. You're not alone Kurt. It was a pleasure to meet you."

Kurt stared in wonder at the slip of paper in his hand, and then looked back up to find him walking away out of the little café. "Thank you," he murmured, knowing Blaine couldn't hear him.

* * *

**Kurt Hummel** is now friends with **Blaine Anderson**, **Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**, and **David Moore**.  
-**Blaine Anderson**, **Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**, **David Moore**, and 3 others like this.

-**Mercedes Jones**: Making friends with the enemy, eh?

-**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day:** Frenemies!  
-**Mercedes Jones**, **Blaine Anderson**, **Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**, and 4 others like this.

**Kurt Hummel** to **Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**: Really? "**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**"? What's with the name?

**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day** to **Kurt Hummel**: It's because I'm special and I like to do my own thing.

-**David Moore**: More like you're "special."  
-**Kurt Hummel**, **David Moore**, **Blaine Anderson**, and 25 others like this.

**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**: Hey! :(  
-**David Moore** likes this.

* * *

Once he had returned to Lima, just in time for Glee, he dutifully reported to the girls his discoveries on the Warblers. Mostly, he stressed how _good_ they actually were for an all boys a capella group who hadn't been to sectionals last year. He left out the parts about how he got caught and then cried like a big baby while at the same time meeting the guy of his dreams. That part he would just keep to himself. Of course his news did not bode well with Rachel, who immediately demanded a blow by blow. Thankfully, Mr. Schue decided to start class right then, and Kurt let out a sigh of relief, he was safe for the time being.

Kurt was surprised at the girls' performance, it was really really good. He found himself smiling at Mercedes' verse and how well each girl harmonized. As he paid rapt attention to the performance, he felt his phone vibrate. Without taking his eyes off of his friends, he pulled his phone out. Surprised to find it was Blaine, he pulled his eyes away and looked down.

**Blaine Anderson:** Courage.

Kurt felt a lump in his throat, but pushed it down, and replaced the phone in his pocket. He would reply after class.

It was after the girls' fantastic performance that he pulled his phone out and brought up Blaine's txt, ready to reply, a smile on his lips. The smile was ripped away, turning into a confused yelp, as his phone was smacked from his hands by a red and tan clad arm, and he was shoved roughly once back, and then again into the lockers. The passersby watched in disgust and concern, but did nothing. Karofsky walked away. And Kurt, mind still linked to the word Courage, did something he'd never done before. He followed after Karofsky.

"Hey!" he screamed after him, running after him into the locker room. "I am talking to you!"

Kurt was furious.

"The girls locker room is next door, " Karofsky said calmly as usual, pulling his shoes out of his locker.

"What is your problem?" Kurt demanded.

"Excuse me?" he responded, the calm slipping slowly away to anger.

Kurt didn't back down. "What are you so scared of?"

"Besides you sneaking in here to peak at my junk?"

Kurt threw his hands up in the air, anger still growing. "Oh yeah, every straight guys nightmare; that all us gays are secretly out there to molest or convert you! Well guess what, Hamhock? You're not my type!"

"That right?" Karofsky asked with a sneer.

"Yeah!" Kurt snapped back, "I don't dig on chubby boys who sweat too much and are going to be bald by the time they're thirty!"

"Do not push me Hummel!" Karofsky snarled, raising his fist.

Kurt contemplated the fist for a moment, knowing how much it would hurt when it connected with his face, but he plowed on anyway.

"You gonna hit me? Do it!"

"Don't push me!" Karofsky growled back, slamming his locker shut.

"Do it! Because it's not going to change anything! You can't punch the gay out of me anymore than I can punch the ignoramus out of you!"

Kurt wasn't even scared when Karofsky screamed, screamed at him. "Get out of my face!"

Kurt just brought his own hand up and shook his finger at him, "You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!"

And then Karofsky grabbed Kurt's face and kissed him, before pulling away, and Kurt looked horrified. He tried to kiss Kurt again, and Kurt instantly shoved him away, keeping a hand up in the air between them, eyes wide with horror.

The other boy slammed his hands into the lockers before him and gave Kurt an angry whine like that of a wounded animal, and stormed out, leaving Kurt to continue feeling horrified, shaking, and having no idea what to do. He brought his shaky fingers to his lips, and closed his eyes, willing it away.

For some reason completely unknown to him, his first instinct was to call Blaine- who he barely knew. It made little sense and he quickly talked himself out of it.

* * *

**Kurt Hummel**: Today sucked more than usual.  
-**Sue Sylvester** likes this.

-**Blaine Anderson**: ?

-**Rachel Berry**: I would have 'liked' this statement, but it would not accurately convey my feelings about today.

-**Finn Hudson**: Sorry Man

**-Blaine Anderson**: Everything okay? Want to meet for coffee?

**-Rachel Berry**: Spy!

**-David Moore**: I think you've got it all mixed up, I'm pretty sure Kurt was the spy. :D  
-**Blaine Anderson**, **David Moore**, **Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**, and 2 others like this.

**-Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day**: It was pretty Endearing. ;)

**-Kurt Hummel**: Rachel, not everyone from an opposing Glee Club is Jesse St. James.  
-**Kurt Hummel**, **Finn Hudson**, **Quinn Fabray**, and 10 others like this.

**-Kurt Hummel**: But thank you for your concern. Also, Thanks for taking those slushies for me today… I still feel awful about that. Oh and Blaine, yes Just text me.

**-Rachel Berry**: As long as you know what you're doing. And someone had to stand up to those single-celled organisms we refer to as jocks. Seems like they especially had it out for you today. Its only too bad that I didn't stop to think that standing up to them and asking them to act like civilized people was too much for them to understand. In any case, you are welcome.

**-Santana Lopez**: I for one think watching manhands get nailed with three slushies at one time was awesome.  
-**Santana Lopez**, **Noah Puckerman**, and 25 others like this.

**-Rachel Berry**: :(

* * *

"Thanks again for coming," he said to Blaine, his heart beating furiously as they climbed the stairs in the courtyard.

Blaine gave him a look that Kurt couldn't quite identify, "Don't worry about it, let me do all the talking."

"There he is," Kurt muttered to Blaine breathlessly; to be honest, all Kurt really wanted to do was turn and run in the other direction. But Blaine was here; this was him being courageous.

"I got your back," Blaine replied firmly, and Kurt felt warm and fuzzy for a fleeting moment, despite the chill that had taken permanent residence in the base of his spine.

Blaine stopped Karofsky in the middle of the stairs, and gave him a tight smile; completely Dalton – polite, and stiff all in one, "Excuse me," he started.

"Hey Lady boys," acknowledged Karofsky with a sneer. He looked Blaine up and down, and turned to Kurt, his voice holding a note that Kurt wasn't sure he wanted to identify. "This your boyfriend, Kurt?"

While Blaine plundered on with: "Kurt and I would like to talk to you about something," Kurt was just thinking: He's never called me Kurt before… this is starting to get beyond creepy. I still can't believe he kissed me. My first kiss…

His attention turned back to the conversation at hand when Karofsky shoved past Blaine, "I gotta go to class," and checked Kurt into the railing. He winced. Ouch.

"Kurt told me what you did," Blaine called after him in a matter of fact manner.

Karofsky wheeled around, and Kurt froze for a moment. "Oh yeah?"

There was a slightly panicked look on his face that he covered quickly with the typical sneer of superiority. "What's that?"

"You kissed me," Kurt said, his voice much stronger than he thought he'd be able to make it.

Dave Karofsky's eyes scanned the area around him as he looked for any indication that Kurt's statement had been heard.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied firmly, calmly. It was the calm the freaked Kurt out.

"It seems like you might be a little confused, "Blaine tried gently, "and that's totally normal."

Karofsky turned away and began to walk quickly.

"This is a very hard thing to come to terms with, and you should just know, that you're not alone."

Blaine's voice was full of knowing sympathy, and Kurt was sure this was what made Karofsky loose his cool, as he turned around again and charged at Blaine, shoving him into the rail, hard. Kurt was horrified. This was not supposed to happen to Blaine.

"Do not mess with me!"

Karofsky's low growl drew him out of his daze, and he continued with his courageous streak. "You have to stop this!" he cried angrily at his tormenter, shoving him as forcefully as someone Kurt's size could, away from Blaine.

The three of them breathed for a moment, eyes locked on each other. Blaine's features were schooled, giving nothing away, Karofsky's expression was slightly panicked and surprised, and Kurt's was abject horror and anger. Karofsky turned and fled.

This time Blaine let him go.

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon," Blaine said, leaning back on his elbows against the railing, trying to make light of the situation.

Kurt stumbled back and dropped to the stairs beneath him, not even taking care to hold onto his bag.

"What's going on?" Blaine asked, concern evident in his voice, as he moved to sit next to Kurt. "Why are you so upset?"

Kurt would have loved to believe that the absolute worry and slight panic he heard in Blaine's voice wasn't imagined. He would have loved to think that Blaine liked him the way Kurt was starting to like Blaine. Instead of dwelling on this line of thought, he did something surprising. He told Blaine what was really bothering him.

"Because of until yesterday, I had never been kissed. Or at least, one that counted."

Blaine bit his lip as he finally understood; Kurt hadn't mentioned that part to him before when they'd met for coffee. He sighed.

"Come on," he said softly, "I'll buy you lunch."

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**Kurt Hummel: **is pretty sure the boys won this round. Just sayin.  
** -Finn Hudson, Noah Puckerman, Sam Evans, and 2 others **like this.

**-Mercedes Jones:** You totally know that that's a lie…  
-**Santana Lopez, Rachel Berry, and Quinn Fabray **like this.

**-Tina Cohen-Chang:** As awesome as your performance was Kurt, I am going to have to disagree… ours was totally Kickass.

-**Rachel Berry:** ^ Agreed.

-**Noah Puckerman: **The girls were pretty hot… with all that leather… ;)

-**Kurt Hummel: **Mercedes: Puh-lease. You want to start another Diva-off? I'll give you a Diva-off. You pick the time and place. Be prepared to be dominated.

Rachel and Tina: You wish. How could ours not be better with Finn's speech about how Coach Beiste was "Nuggety" at the beginning? *Facepalm*

Puck**:** EW. No offense, girls :S  
-**Mercedes Jones, Quinn Fabray, Sam Evans **and 20 others like this.

-**Mercedes Jones:** Tomorrow, 3:00. Choir room. Be there or be square!  
** -Kurt Hummel **likes this.

-**Finn Hudson: **Am I sensing sarcasm?

-**Kurt Hummel: **Maybe… :P

**Blaine Anderson **to **Kurt Hummel: **Hope your day was much better today! Had fun at lunch, maybe we can make it a weekly thing? Except, you know, like on the weekend when I don't have class? lol.  
-**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day** and **David Moore** like this.

**Kurt Hummel **to **Blaine Anderson:** It was mostly better. Thank you. And we definitely should! Although I for one wouldn't mind blowing off school! :P  
-**Blaine Anderson **likes this.

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**Blaine Anderson:** Courage.

**Kurt Hummel:** Thank you. For everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** **This chapter covers "The Substitute," from Kurt's pov, with a little bit of facebook fun, and a whole lot of best friend drama in the cafeteria. Some parts are different, some parts aren't included. I did it for a reason :)**

**I apologize for any grammatical errors.**

**On another note, I've decided that this fic will cover the episodes closely through "Furt" as a sort of prequel to where I really wanted to go with this fic. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee.**

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Kurt Hummel's day was going surprisingly well for a Monday. He had gotten up with plenty of time to get ready for school and was not running late at all. He was rocking his new sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans, and for the first time since the Karofsky incident, he felt happy with himself.

This may have had something to do with the fact that he had a new friend to hang out with, one who understood. Finally, someone who could identify with what he was going through and did not judge him on his actions or behavior. He knew that nothing at McKinley had really changed; no one stopped Karofsky from checking him into lockers, no one said anything, and hardly anyone asked him if he was all right. But it didn't matter, for once he was feeling good about himself and he wasn't going to let anyone get him down today.

Or so he thought.

Then he walked through the doors of McKinley and to his locker.

"Kurt!" Mercedes called to him, hurrying up to join him at his locker.

"Good Morning," Kurt answered, smiling pleasantly at her.

She took a moment to raise an eyebrow at him, wondering what had put him in such a good mood. It wasn't that she didn't like to see him in a good mood, because of course if she knew anybody that deserved to be happy it was Kurt; she just wasn't used to Kurt smiling so brightly. Shrugging it off she widened her eyes at him. "I have news."

"What is it?" he asked, not looking up from where he was pulling his books out of his locker. Mercedes moved to the other side so that she could see him better. "You'll never believe… is that a picture of that Blaine guy you were telling me about?"

Kurt looked over his shoulder at her in surprise, and shrugged. "Yeah, it is. "

"That's a pretty large picture of someone that you are 'just friends' with," she observed, "are you sure that you're just friends?"

Rolling his eyes, Kurt pulled back from his locker and shut it tightly, making sure to turn the lock. 'I'm absolutely sure."

Mercedes pursed her lips, "Okay, but do you want to be more than friends?"

Kurt refused to look at her, but she could tell that the answer was yes by the way his ears went flaming red.

Before she could call him on it, he raised an eyebrow at her and brought her back to the matter at hand. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Finally remembering, she pulled him to a stop, bracing her hand on his shoulder. "I just heard that Figgins is out sick."

"Yeah, I heard that too, why is that…" he began to say, but she cut him off.

"They made Coach Sylvester principal in his place!"

Kurt's face went from confused to horrified in 3 seconds flat. "Oh crap."

* * *

**Kurt Hummel **is not sure whether to be excited, or run away screaming…  
** -Mercedes Jones, Finn Hudson, Noah Puckerman **and 44 others like this.  
**-Blaine Anderson:** This seems like a strange statement for so many people to like… Everything okay?  
-**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day:** Blaine, Kurt clearly stated that he could be excited- so I doubt that you'll need to ride in on your high horse and be his white knight in shining armor this time.  
** -David Moore** likes this.  
-**Blaine Anderson:** Sigh. I was just making sure.  
-**Kurt Hummel **likes this.  
-**Kurt Hummel:** Thanks for caring, Blaine. It's nothing to worry about. :) I just… found out that my cheerleading coach was made Principal today.  
**-Sam Evans:** :S Scary, scary, scary! I say run away! She tried to cut the football team today…  
-**Kurt Hummel** likes this.  
-**Kurt Hummel:** I hate to say it Sam, but… it wouldn't be that big of a loss.  
-**Mercedes Jones, Rachel Berry, Quinn Fabray, **and 6 others like this.  
-**Blaine Anderson:** Ah, I see… okay no. I won't even pretend I understand the crazy that goes on at McKinley. But um, Good Luck with that?

* * *

The change in the principal was the first sign that his good mood would potentially go sour that day. The next sign was when he got to glee club and Mr. Schue began to talk about the upcoming Regionals competition. He was acting incredibly strange, writing on the board and then turning around every few moments to regard them and wiping the sweat from his brow.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out eagerly, hoping it was Blaine. He was so bored. It wasn't, it was Mercedes. He rolled his eyes, but smiled affectionately and waved at his friend who was sitting across the room also looking bored to death as Mr. Schue rambled on.

**Mercedes Jones: **Mr. Schue's looking a little peaky… why does he keep staring at us like that?

**Kurt Hummel: **I know… he usually notices us texting and makes us stop. Maybe he's sick?

**Mercedes Jones:** Maybe he'll go home and we can have a sub!

**Kurt Hummel:** *Fingers Crossed*

It turned out that their wish would come true, just unfortunately not in the way that they had hoped.

"I am shaking, and its either from low blood sugar or from rage," Kurt said mildly as he walked next to Mercedes carrying their lunch trays in the Cafeteria. "I knew it was only a matter of time before Rachel tried to take over the glee club."

"_Well this is a surprise," Kurt muttered with a roll of his eyes and an agitated huff as they watched Rachel take control of the class._

"_He hasn't even been gone for 24 hours, and she's already acting like the freaking queen bee." Mercedes groaned back._

_Rachel Berry had never been Kurt's favorite person, but he liked to the think that they had made some progress on the friendship front this part year. But this progress and occasional feelings of affection for the girl did nothing to alleviate the fury he was feeling toward her at this particular moment._

"_Ok class, in Mr. Schuster's absence, I'd like to go around and ask everyone what solos they'd like to hear me perform at sectionals."_

"_Alright you know what? Let me at her!" _

_Santana's response was almost worth all of the anger Kurt felt toward the girl right now. He just sat back and laughed as Mike, Brittani, and Mercedes launched forward to stop the Latina from attacking the obnoxious girl in the front of the room. _

"We'll forget all about it tonight at bowling," Mercedes replied, bringing him back to the present as she reached forward to get a drink.

It was at this point that he realized he'd forgotten to tell her that he was hanging out with Blaine that night. This also put a damper on his mood- though only slightly. He knew she would be a little hurt that he was blowing her off and he momentarily debated rescheduling with Blaine. Mercedes was his best friend after all, and he'd only just met Blaine.

But then again, he really wanted to see Blaine… She looked at him and he felt a moment of panic, before the words slipped out, "I can't, Blaine asked me to hang out."

"But I've been looking forward to it all week," she said, pouting, "Wait- are you two going out?"

She followed him to the salad bar. "Because, I think you need to come clean."

Kurt still refused to meet her gaze that would mean she would totally know he was lying- not about their dating, but that he liked Blaine.

"What? No, I don't want another Jesse-Rachel scenario to overcome us. Please, Mercedes Mums the word."

Mercedes was giving him _that _look, the concerned one that meant she was really worried about him. "We'd be happy for you, you know. We know how lonely you've been lately."

"We just hang out, nothing about glee club ever comes up," he said, still refusing to look at her, "Its just nice to have someone to talk to."

He sighed at the offended and confused look on her face, as she asked, "What does that mean?" following him to the next table.

"It means someone like me. But I promise I'll make it up to you. We'll hang out Friday night," he assured, glancing at her for the first time, hoping she wasn't mad. He didn't want her to be mad at him.

Her face brightened as she saw them set out another tray of tots, and she made a b-line toward them. He shuddered as she had them put tot after tot on her tray. Oh the things that those tots would do to her complexion. He followed her and stood next to her none-the-less, because that's what good friends did.

"So," she said turning to him, after securing the tots, "What are we going to do about glee club while Mr. Schue is sick?"

"I have an idea," he said, finally smiling at her, "have you met the new Spanish teacher?"

Kurt smiled triumphantly as he approached the choir room, seeing Ms. Holliday already inside talking to the students. He shifted his shoulder back as he swept into the room to walk toward his seat when he felt he feet fly out from beneath him.

Puck, he realized with a sigh, he should have known the idiot would have tried to pull something on the new substitute. Puck's face entered his line of sight and he glared dazedly up at the boy, as Finn's concerned face leaned over him as well.

"You okay dude?" Puck asked, making sure that he nodded, before turning back to the substitute to answer her question with a grin.

Finn held out a hand and helped him to his feet, and Kurt shook it off. He was fine, the day was looking up again, he would not let his mood take another plunge. He turned back to Ms. Holliday in time to hear her chastise his classmates, "Those aren't your names, want to know how I know that?"

Brittany chimed in with, "You're psychic?"

Ms. Holliday smiled and said; "I know this because I recently watched a video of you guys performing at regionals, where you came in _last._ Maybe its because those songs are about 30 years old, but…"

"Those songs are classics," Finn protested from beside Kurt, looking slightly offended.

Holly Holliday looked at him and nodded in agreement, "Those songs are amazing, but they sounded like somebody else's favorites, not yours. Just saying."

Brittany nodded in amazement, "She speaks the truth."

"I'm not your average, run of the mill, substitute teacher," she continued, walking around the room, looking at them all, "I want you guys to do things that _you_ want to do. I want you to have fun, in our fabulous but fleeting time together!"

Kurt grinned happily, he felt as though he had saved the day, and the rest of his glee-mates were smiling too. Except for Rachel, who shot him an outraged look. Ah well, you win some you lose some. People weren't always going to be happy, especially Rachel.

She stopped in front of them and threw her hands up in the air, a contagious grin on her face, "What do you say we have class outside?"

Mercedes shot her a slightly confused look, "Its raining outside…"

"Okay, well then lets take a field trip to Taco Bell!"

There were happy exclamations at this.

"Should we toke up some medical-grade marijuana? Hmm I wish," she said with a wink as the kids started laughing.

He looked over at Finn, who was grinning and leaned toward him, whispering "Its really hard not to like this woman."

"No!"

Rachel had obviously had enough of sitting silently, Kurt was just counting down the seconds until she exploded, and now she looked absolutely livid. "We can't just goof off all day, we _have_ to write a set list for sectionals!"

Ms. Holliday spun around to face Rachel, never once losing her smile. "You're right, what kind of songs would you like to do?"

Absolute silence fell over the room, Rachel looked flabbergasted, and even Kurt was taken aback by the question. It wasn't often that they really had a choice in what songs they were going to sing.

"Oh," she said pointedly, "Don't get asked that question much, do we?"

Kurt finally spoke up, moving away from Finn and Puck to take his spot.

"Ms. Holliday is right, Mr. Schuster's set list sometimes makes it seem like he hasn't listened to the radio since the 80s."

"He never listens to what I have to say," Puck added, looking disappointed as he retold the Cee-lo story.

Ms. Holliday snapped excitedly, "Cee-lo! That's what I'm talking about!"

And the group proceeded to have the most fun they had had in months.

* * *

**Kurt Hummel: **Two words. Holly Holliday! :D  
** -Mercedes Jones, Quinn Fabray, NoahPuckerman, **and 60 others like this.  
-**Puck:** Cee-lo!  
-**Santana Lopez: **She's a gold-diggin'! Just thought you should know it!  
**-Finn Hudson: **Best. Substitute. Ever!  
-**Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, Puck, **and 10 others like this.

* * *

The next day found Kurt and Mercedes in the lunchroom, again waiting in line for tots.

"Oh, we have to get there early on Friday. It's league night for little people, and they'll buy up all of the small shoes if they get there first," she explained to him, smiling.

_Crap. I forgot again._ Kurt wanted to smack his head against the wall. Poor Mercedes, he again debated calling Blaine up to see if they could hang out another time, but again his mouth was faster than his willpower.

"Oh I forgot, the community playhouse is playing 'Rent' and Blaine got us tickets," he said, giving her an apologetic look. Gah! Dang his mouth. Too late to take it back now he supposed. He'd really have to make it up to her.

She gave him an annoyed look, "Us as in all of us?"

He winced, and tried to word his answer carefully, "I think he could only score two."

He was saved from the wrath of his best friend by the catastrophe that happened next. Mercedes reached the tots server and was about to ask for some when Santana appeared, wearing oven mitts, and grabbed the tray of tots.

Mercedes looked horrified as she walked away with them, and he turned to observe the rest of the lunchroom as the rest of the Cheerios were gathering the rest of the tots off of people's trays and tossing them into the trash.

"Wait, where do you think you're going with those tots?" Mercedes demanded.

The Latina looked unfazed, "Principal Sue banned the tots."

"She can't do that!"

Kurt scrunched up his nose, waiting for the smoke to come from his friend's ears as she exploded. Secretly he was kind of glad, he hated those tots.

"They look like deep fried deer poop," Brittany said looking two parts disgusted, and one part apologetic.

"Take it up with Principal Sue," Santana said, before turning and walking off.

He waited a moment, contemplating what he could say to her that would calm her down. "Maybe we could get you some…"

She held up her hand in a _don't talk to me_ gesture.

He hugged his tray closer and nodded to himself, "Okay…"

He watched her storm off in the direction of Sue Sylvester's office, and sighed. Well that had gone over well.

* * *

**Mercedes Jones: **Oh hell no, they did not ban my tots!  
-**Sam Evans, Mercedes Jones, Mike Change **and 100 others like this.  
-**Kurt Hummel: **Mercedes, really? They're not even that good. They taste like deep fried crispy French fries that burn a hole through your esophagus with all of their grease…  
-**Sam Evans:** O.o Take it back, Kurt! Tots are awesome!  
-**Mercedes Jones:** Did you just insult the tots? Get off my facebook page!  
-**Kurt Hummel: ** Oh dear…

* * *

Wednesday found Kurt walking into the lunchroom alone to meet Mercedes with a smile on his face. He could tell from the way she was sitting poking the mush on her tray that she wasn't very happy. He sat down next to her, and didn't have to say anything to her before she started in on the lunch.

"Look at this crap! Foam fish sticks?" she cried gesturing toward her plate, "Principal Sylvester is only serving pre-digested food now. To give us more energy."

She leaned forward, seething in anger and he was suddenly glad that it wasn't directed at him. Her obsession with food was starting to disturb him. He himself could care less about the stupid tots, in fact, he didn't really think he was that hungry and could care less about lunch today.

"I mean do I look like a damn baby bird?" she demanded, and he brought himself back to the present.

Smiling, he held up his hands in a sign of peace, he was about to enter phase one of operation: make up for blowing off Mercedes.

"Don't fret over your culinary disappointment, I come bearing gifts," he said triumphantly.

"You brought tots?" she asked perking up excitedly.

He mentally face-palmed. Good lord, he thought to himself, forget about the tots!

"Something better!" he revealed, ignoring the way her face fell, "I've set you up on a date!"

She stared at him in silence.

"I get it," he continued, and at this point he mentally begged his brain to form words in a non-insulting fashion, "My new, budding friendship with Blaine is making you feel left out, jealous."

She gave him a withering look, and asked, "Whose the guy?"

He grinned even wider and smiled slyly in the direction of the handsome jock, "Anthony Reshawd."

Mercedes turned to take a look and smiled at the boy who shyly smiled back and gave her a wave. She turned back to him and dropped the smile quickly. "Why him?"

Here came the tricky part. His eyes lingered on the jock that he actually did find somewhat attractive, before he drew his gaze back to Mercedes.

"No reason," he said with a shrug, still grinning at her.

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that he is one of the five black guys at this school?" she asked him pointedly, and Kurt kept his poker face on full blast.

"No! He is a wide receiver on the football team, he is _very_ good looking, and he is a member of the black student union," he quickly refuted, giving her a thumbs up.

"Any non-black activities?" she asked, giving him a disappointed look.

Crap! Caught again. Now he wished he had gone through the whole scenario before presenting it to Mercedes. He didn't have any good excuses prepared.

"Erm, I don't know," he brought his hand up to his chin, thinking, "My google search was a little…"

Mercedes shook her head in disgust, "I can't take this anymore," she said, pulling out a pad of paper.

He held up his hands, trying to assure her, "Mercedes, trust me. Love- is just around the corner."

As he finished that sentence, he noticed a flash of tan and gold out of the corner of his eye. It was Karofsky, and he straightened in his seat, a brief flash of terror struck the base of his spine and zapped its way throughout his body.

"Sup, homo?" the boy said, staring straight at him, leering almost, before adding a very obvious wink and continuing to walk.

Mercedes had stopped her writing on the pad for a brief second to glare at the jock angrily, turning her gaze to Kurt to make sure he was okay. It was moments like these that he loved his best friend the most. Even though she was mad at him for his blowing her off and trying to set her up, she immediately put it aside when it came to his well being. When she noticed the way he was treated and immediately made sure he was okay. It didn't happen all of the time. It didn't protect him, or keep the bad things away, but it reminded him that there were some people who did care. He knew she had not seen the wink, and he preferred to keep it that way. She would freak out, and try to convince him to tell someone about it. And when he refused she would go to one of three people: Mr. Schuester, Coach Sylvester, or his father.

He gave her a slight shake of the head to show her he was fine, and she gazed at him for a moment longer, as if making absolutely sure she didn't need to go mama bear on somebody. She then resumes her task of writing on the pad furiously, and brought them back to the matter at hand.

"That's not what I'm talking about," she said, drawing his attention.

She then got up and stood on her chair, holding up the sign she'd made that read in bold purple letters: TOTS.

His eyes widened as he watched the rest of the lunchroom observe, and stand up. Then a girl across the room that he didn't really know raised her fists in the air and shouted the word.

"TOTS!"

It was like a war cry, and Kurt just gaped in horror, forgetting about his momentary terror.

"Oh, my god," he said, eyes wide, as people began to chant.

Across the lunchroom stood Principal Sue and Becky, watching with disapproval.

Kurt put his head in his hand; this week could not get any weirder.

* * *

**Kurt Hummel **to** Mercedes Jones**: Oh. My. Gaga. You Are Crazy; Starting a Tots war against Principal Sue?

**Mercedes Jones** to **Kurt Hummel**: Tots = life.  
-**Kurt Hummel: **Erm… Don't you think that you're taking this a bit far?'

* * *

"Hey Mercedes, wait up!" he called after glee that afternoon.

She was walking down the hall with Rachel of all people, but seemed glad to have the excuse to pause and turn away from the girl who was still dressed in her Jazz outfit. As he came up to them, he gave Rachel a sincere smile.

"You were really great up there today Rachel," he complemented, "I haven't seen you have that much fun on a number in well, ever probably."

She thanked him by longwindedly explaining that she had picked the number because it was a long time favorite, and that Ms. Holliday, though a little flat on some of the lines had been an excellent choice as her partner. She then flounced away to join Finn, who was at his own locker a few feet away, grinning like a fool at his girlfriend.

Kurt and Mercedes gagged as Rachel leapt dramatically to his arms, and he spun her around swiftly before setting her down and leaning in to give her a sickly sweet kiss.

"If those two get any cuter, I think I'm going to have to go kill a kitten just to counteract the warm and fuzzies in my stomach," Santana said to them as she passed by, on her way to Cheerio practice.

"True dat," Kurt said, finally tearing his eyes away from the spectacle.

Turning to Mercedes, he said, "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd maybe like to go to dinner with me and Blaine tomorrow night? I feel bad that I keep blowing you off, and you haven't met him yet. He's a really great guy."

She seemed to contemplate this for a few seconds before nodding agreeably, "Okay, but on two conditions."

"Anything," Kurt replied happily.

"One, no more setting me up on dates without asking me first. Two, I need to find me some tots," she said giving him a look that told him he was forgiven.

He shook his head at her, and turned to walk out to his car, keeping a sharp lookout for Karofsky and any of his goonies. He was relieved to make it to his car safely, and chalked this day up as a Win over all.

* * *

**Blaine Anderson: **Dinner at Breadsticks in Lima tonight! Yum, can't wait!  
-**Kurt Hummel **likes this.  
-**David Jones:** What? You're going out tonight, and we're not invited?  
-**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day: **Yeah! I thought we were your friends?  
-**Blaine Anderson:** I hate to break it to you too, but… I have a life outside of you…  
** -Kurt Hummel, Aiden Miller, Darcy Cooper **and** 12 others **like this.

**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day **to** David Moore**: Whatever shall we do without Blaine here tonight?  
** -David Moore** likes this.  
-**David Moore:** Rearrange his room?  
**-Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day:** Steal all of his Robert Pattinson posters?  
-**Landon Campbell:** ***Shudder* **I hate Robert Pattinson! He's so… creepy, and my girlfriend just won't stop talking about him… If you steal Blaine's posters, I hereby offer my services to help burn them!  
** -Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day, David Moore,** **Darcy Cooper** and **14 others** like this.  
-**David Moore: **Noted Landon. Wes- Replace all of his hidden candy with random vegetables?  
-**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day:** Steal his hair gel!  
-**David Moore **likes this.  
-**David Moore:** This is why you're my favorite.  
-**Blaine Anderson:** For your personal protection, I better not find out that any of these things have happened. Or I will make you sorry!  
-**Blaine Anderson:** Also, for the general public, I have ONE poster of Robert Pattinson, and it was given to me as a joke.  
-**David Moore:** I like how you address this second.  
-**Wes 'doinWesDaythings' Day: **I also like how you had to clarify the truth about your posters. We all know that that's not true. You have four.

* * *

Dinner with Blaine and Mercedes was not quite how Kurt imagined it. He had imagined this great scenario where they became immediate friends and got along with each other as well as Kurt did with the both of them. They didn't not get along, Blaine was really really great when it came to interacting with Mercedes, and Mercedes made a good effort to get to know Blaine. But Kurt could tell that she had gotten bored pretty early on.

Later on, he would realize that it didn't help that the conversation topic kept leaning toward gay rights- something he was thrilled to talk about. No one had ever wanted or really been willing to discuss it with him in such a casual manner, except perhaps Rachel. So he kind of let the topic run away with him. And Blaine seemed to be as excited to talk about the topic as he did, so he didn't really find a need to change the topic.

Sometime around when the conversation changed to prop 8, he realized Mercedes was bored, and not paying attention. He had gotten her attention, and Blaine had valiantly attempted to show us that he was not the stereotypical gay teenager when he brought up sports.

"Way to break the stereotype," he grinned, bumping fists with Blaine, who gave him an identical silly grin back. Kurt's heart stammered right then, and he was sure if someone were to capture this moment with a camera, his eyes would be a dead give away to how he really felt about Blaine.

Turning back to Mercedes, knowing he was about to lose her again, he opened his mouth wracking his brain to find something to draw her in. Instead, what came out was:

"Have you guys read the new Patty Lupone book?"

She gave him a blank look, and he turned expectantly to Blaine, who was the real target of the question anyway.

Blaine had a look of confusion on his face, before breaking out into a grin and saying "Of course I have!"

Kurt giggled- actually giggled- "Oh thank god, you scared me for a moment there."

He shot a look at Mercedes and saw that he had lost her, and then she turned to the waitress and asked for Tots.

He mentally banged his head on the table, he wasn't one hundred percent sure what the problem was. She seemed to be turning to food- or tots- whenever she was upset or bored. And she had gotten into serious trouble after she had stuffed Sue's tailpipe with the infernal things! Blaine shot him a confused look as the waitress said something about them being from McKinley and how everyone was asking for tots lately.

He shook his head at Blaine, in a _don't ask_ manner.

When dinner was over, Mercedes smiled at them and politely told them that she'd had a good time, and that they should do it again. Kurt felt bad for a moment because he knew she hadn't really had fun tonight. He'd have to make it up to her. This thought was occurring to him a lot. Hmm. He shrugged it off and gave her a one armed hug before she left.

They were still at Breadsticks, sitting at the booth talking about everything and nothing. They talked for at least another hour. At one point the conversation turned to his week at McKinley.

"So," Blaine began, a concerned look falling over his features, and Kurt knew he was about to broach the topic of bullying. "How is our favorite closeted jock treating you? Has he done anything else recently Kurt?"

Kurt suddenly found he couldn't look at his friend, he couldn't tell Blaine about the creepy winking or the continued harassment in the halls. His eyes landed on his hands and he tried to think of something to reassure Blaine that everything was fine, but he couldn't find the words. Sure, now he couldn't think of something to say.

"Hey," Blaine said, ducking his head down to catch Kurt's attention, bringing a hand up to touch his shoulder, "Is everything okay?"

Finally, Kurt pulled himself together and pulled on a smile that should have won him some kind of award. "Yeah, of course, everything's fine. No news to report on the Karofsky front, he hasn't really changed all that much. But, I think he's avoiding me out of fear that I'll say something to someone."

Blaine looked slightly relieved. This was totally a lie of course; Karofsky had started shoving him into lockers even more often than usual. He hadn't mentioned it to anyone: not Mercedes, not Finn, or Carole, and definitely not his Dad. If he wasn't going to tell them, why should he tell Blaine about it?

Except that he had told Blaine about the kiss, and he hadn't told the others about it. Blaine had been there for him, and surely he would be able to give Kurt some kind of encouraging words if Kurt told him it as getting worse. But this time around he wasn't scared, he was embarrassed; and his feelings for Blaine had developed way past a supportive friendship with someone who had been through something similar. He could no longer deny his crush on the boy, and the last thing he wanted him to know about was how he was being creepily harassed much more than before he and Blaine had confronted Karofsky.

He didn't know what to do. So he just looked Blaine in the eyes and changed the topic.

* * *

Friday morning came with dreadful news.

"They've given Mr. Schue the axe," Finn said to him as they stood outside of their History classroom.

"What?" Kurt demanded, aghast. This was just not possible. He liked Ms. Holliday, he really did, but she wasn't an actual teacher. Even he knew that; the woman had practically encouraged Mercedes to get in trouble with Principal Sylvester, and while she had great glee ideas, she had no idea to reign in the mass chaos that the freedom she was allowing caused.

"I know," Finn said, looking downcast, "I'm not sure what to do here. I think I'm going to go say something to Principal Sue. I know she has it in for him, but she just can't randomly fire him!"

He nodded, and as they parted ways Kurt headed for his locker, deep in thought on what he could do about the situation. As he stood at his locker, pulling out books, he heard Mercedes call to him.

When she pulled the Tots out, he felt something in him snap.

"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed, two parts annoyed, one part concerned. "After what you did to Sue's LeCar? You're going to end up in prison."

She gave him a look that said she could care less. "So?"

And before he could sensor what came out of his mouth, or even think about censoring it.

"I'm not breaking it off with Blaine; I really like him."

She looked up at him with a expression mixed with hurt and uncertainty. He barreled on.

"You are substituting food for love, Mercedes. And more importantly, you're substituting me for a boyfriend."

Now she was looking down, and he felt slightly ashamed for his outburst, but it had to be said. He looked at her with worry now.

"Look at me," he said, trying to catch her attention again, trying to pour the extent of his concern and love for her into his words, "two weeks ago, I never thought I'd ever find someone like Blaine. Then there he was. You will find somebody, but until then, you need to take care of yourself- treat yourself with a little respect."

She looked down again and then nodded.

"You're right; I gotta go," she said timidly.

He wished he could make her smile again; he didn't want her to be upset with him or upset with herself. All he really wanted was for her to feel good about herself and be happy.

"Where?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm going to go talk to that Anthony kid," she admitted, "the first time I saw him, I thought he was kinda cute. Maybe we have a shot."

He let out a breath, and before he even had a chance to mentally go over what had just happened, he was startled to feel a hand clamp down on his shoulder, hard, spinning him around.

It was Karofsky. He swallowed and looked up into the boys' eyes.

"Question for you," the boy said softly to him, fear and fury in his demeanor, "You tell anyone else what happened? How you…kissed me?"

Kurt, though definitely afraid, couldn't believe this.

"You kissed me Karofsky," he said, "and I understand how hard this is for you. So no."

Karofsky's eyes darted around and then he glared at Kurt, eyes boring directly into him.

"Good. Because if you do," here he paused, "I am going to kill you."

Kurt was sure his eyes were wide in terror, but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't move, he couldn't breathe, and he couldn't tear his eyes away. He continued staring straight forward even after Karofsky walked away, unable to get his frozen limbs working again.

The bell rang, and he was late for class.

* * *

**Kurt Hummel:** Hey Blaine, I'm really sorry but I think I'm going to have to cancel tonight. I'm not feeling so hot.

**Blaine Anderson:** Oh no! I'm sorry. Don't even worry about it, we'll catch it another night okay? Just feel better!

**Kurt Hummel:** Okay. Sorry again.


End file.
